Tales of Aradia The Last Witch Volume 3 (9 page)

Roy had almost reached her,
and leapt forward with his mouth wide open. Melina held up her arms
in an instinctive attempt to protect herself. She could almost feel
Roy's hot breath as he came towards her when all of sudden a gust
of wind threw Roy back several feet. As he soon as he stopped
skidding, Roy quickly rose again onto his hind legs. Melina looked
at her savior only to be shocked once she realized it was Aradia!
She placed herself in front of Melina, ready to protect her. Roy
once again ran towards them, but Aradia was ready. Using both her
legs, she jumped up and kicked Roy in his chest causing him to fall
down once again. However, it did not stop him for long. He leapt at
Aradia once again, and they tumbled on to the ground. Aradia then
grabbed a stick, and forced it into Roy's mouth trying to keep him
from biting her. She used both her hands to hold the stick in
place, so far back into his mouth that in spite of his snapping at
her non-stop, his teeth could not chomp it to pieces.

Melina then saw something
else moving so quick that it looked like a light blue colored
whirlwind. It went straight for Roy and shoved him off Aradia.
Melina's mouth dropped open upon seeing it was Dax. Only he looked
very different as he grasped Aradia's hand, and hoisted her up.
After one quick glance at his face, Melina was shocked to see he
had fangs protruding from his mouth.

He is a vampire! Melina
realized.

Although Aradia had gotten a
glimpse of Melina's shocked face and understood her shock and fear,
she could not stop to explain.

"Did you bring it?" Aradia
asked turning back to Dax.

He nodded, and pointed to a
rifle that lay near Melina.

"It has the animal
tranquilizers in it, but I don't know if that will knock him out
for long." Dax then turned to a growling Roy and readied himself to
attack.

Aradia's face grew
thoughtful, snapped her fingers, reached into her pocket, and
pulled out a small plastic bottle.

Dax stared at her,
confused.

"Here's the plan," she
explained. "You hold Roy off, I will get the gun, tranquilize him,
and then we can force him to drink this potion."

"What good will that do?"
Dax demanded as he and Roy started circling each other.

"Just trust me!" Aradia
shouted back as she went towards the gun.

Roy noticed her moving and
instead of racing towards Dax, he leapt at Aradia who in the nick
of the time managed to flip onto her back, and kick him over!
Aradia had barely any time to face him before Roy attacked her
again. Dax rushed forward to help Aradia, but with one swift blow
from his paw, Roy knocked him back. Dax struggled to get back on
his feet as Roy began to dive towards Aradia's throat ready to tear
it out.

Suddenly, there was a loud
shot and Roy clutched his shoulder where a feathered needle was now
poking out. Another shot rang out and Roy fell completely over, his
erratic breathing beginning to slow down to a leisurely pace.
Aradia and Dax looked towards the shot came from and there standing
holding the rifle was a dirty, sweaty, Melina.

Looking blankly at the two
of them, she slowly lowered the gun, sank to the ground, and
breathed heavily while muttering in a shocked tone, "I shot Roy! I
shot Roy!"

Gathering her wits, Aradia
popped the top off the potion, and ran towards Roy. Quickly, she
put Roy's head on her lap.

"Dax, help me get his mouth
open," Aradia instructed

Dax nodded, quickly took
hold of Roy's jaw, and pried it open. He then shuddered, and drew
back but was careful not to remove his hands.

"My God!" He said in a
disgusted voice. "Do these werewolves ever brush their bloody
teeth?"

Aradia tried to restrain a
chuckle as she poured the potion into Roy's mouth, and tilted his
head so he would swallow it. A few tense seconds passed before
Roy's whole being started to shake. His hairy paws then turned back
into his hands, and his body began to shrink. Soon Roy was back to
his human form sleeping soundly while Dax stared down at him in
shock.

"What did you do to him?"
Dax asked Aradia.

"It's a potion made out of
wolfsbane," Aradia explained, "It's an herb that can be used as a
common cure for Werewolves."

"So he is cured?" Dax asked,
completely astounded.

Aradia shook her head. "No.
Newly turned werewolves can be cured, but those who are born
werewolves...well those conditions are unchangeable. However, what
this potion can do is temporarily revert the werewolf back to his
or her human form."

"How do you know this?" Dax
asked.

Aradia smiled and said, "I
am the last witch remember? I know all."

"And," she added with a
shrug. "I also spent the last month doing some research on ancient
potions so I thought..." She shrugged again.

"How did you know it would
work?" Dax asked.

Aradia grinned slyly. "I
went to random biker werewolf only bars, picked fights, and tested
it on the ones I knocked out."

Dax's mouth dropped open in
shock.

Aradia then shrugged
sheepishly.

Melina was still holding the
gun, her heart racing like the Daytona 500.

Maybe I am going
crazy
, she thought to
herself.

Suddenly, Aradia and Dax
noticed Melina and Aradia rubbed her hand across her face before
turning to Dax. "Is it okay if we come over to your
house?"

Melina awoke with a
start.

"Thank God it was just a
dream," She muttered.

However, once she sat up she
realized she was not in her bed at the Preston house. She was lying
on a couch in front of a fireplace of what appeared to be a large
manor with a black jacket covering her like a blanket.

She soon heard voices coming
from the corridor. She then got up from the couch and began to
creep towards them.

"Are you sure I didn't bite
her? If I turned her I swear to God..."

"Roy relax, I checked her
out she's safe."

"Are you sure
Aradia?"

"Have I ever been wrong
before?"'

"Well there was this one
time..."

"Look! She is safe I am sure
of it. If not...well at least we won't have to worry about her
spilling her guts."

"If anything Roy, you should
be thanking Aradia for saving you. Again!"

"Now, now Dax you helped too
remember?"

"Yeah that surprised me a
lot. Why did you help me Dax?"

"You mean pass up an
opportunity to beat your ass down? No bloody way."

Melina's eyes grew wide as
she listened. It was not a dream after all. Dax was a vampire,
Aradia was a witch, and Roy was a werewolf.

"Yeah I am sorry Melina, but
it is true," a voice said suddenly from around the
corner.

Melina spun around to face
Aradia who was looking at her sympathetically.

Aradia reached out, but
Melina backed away.

"Don't touch me!" Melina
shouted, "Stay away from me! You...you monster! You
freak!"

"Hey!" Dax said as he
rounded the corner as well. "Don't you talk to her like
that!"

"Don't yell at her Dax!" Roy
snapped, stepping out from behind him as well.

An awkward silence filled
the room until Melina asked, "Just who or what the hell are you
people?"

Aradia sighed. "I think it's
pretty obvious at this point Lina, but I will still explain. Dax is
a vampire, Roy is a werewolf, and I am witch."

"The last witch actually,"
Dax, corrected her under his breath.

Aradia shot him a warning
look.

She then continued, "We are
not the only ones though. There are other vampires, and werewolves
in addition to fae's (fairies) and shape-shifters living in Salem
and all over the world. We are called the hidden race because the
one law that we all follow is we must remain hidden from the human
world. In other words no one in the human race is allowed to know
about us."

Melina gulped. "Are you
planning to kill me?"

Aradia looked shocked. "No.
What makes you think that?"

"But you just said..."
Melina began.

"What I mean is 'please
don't tell anyone about us Melina we would really appreciate it',"
Aradia said smiling.

Melina just stared at
her.

A few silent moments passed
until she started to shout, "You are all freaks! Weirdos! Monsters!
You are all monsters!"

She then dashed towards the
front door, yanked it open, and ran out.

The trio was now stunned
silent until Dax sighed and said, "Well you know what she is going
to do right?"

Roy shook his
head.

Dax groaned and explained,
"She is going to tell everyone. We will all be in
danger!"

"Hardly," Aradia
muttered.

The boys turned to look at
her in confusion.

"What do you mean?" Dax
asked.

Aradia chuckled
sarcastically. "If she tells anyone, no will believe her. If
anything they will probably throw her into the nut
house."

"Why won't they believe
her?" Roy asked.

"Well," said Aradia, "First
of all, the whole concept of 'hidden race' is ridiculous at least
to anyone who doesn't know otherwise. Second, let's just say there
is something to be said for a criminal record."

They both stared at her,
still confused.

Aradia sighed before
clarifying. "Considering the amount of arrests Melina has gotten
over the years. It sheds a real negative light on her creditability
so needless to say anyone believing her after looking at her rap
sheet would have to be the most delusional person in the
world."

In the end, Melina had ended
up at the one place she thought could help her but only as a last
resort. She went to Ross's office, and told him everything.
However, it was there where she got the biggest shock of them
all.

"You knew!" Melina shrieked,
"You knew Aradia was a freak and you didn't..."

"She is not a freak Melina.
She is my daughter and..."

"So wait?" Melina paused,
"Are you a witch too?"

Ross laughed, and shook his
head. "No. I am just as human as you are."

"But then how..."

"Aradia is adopted," Ross
explained.

"So then she's not really
your daughter..."

"Yes she is!" Ross stated
firmly, "My wife and I have raised her, cared for her, and loved
her for many years. She is our daughter in every sense of the word.
So what if we are not genetically related? That makes no
difference."

"Look Melina," He added,
"Your behavior is perfectly understandable considering the
circumstances. I am not going to ask you accept everything and move
on. In fact, if you want to leave I will allow it."

"However," he said as he
arose and walked towards the door. "Keep in mind that no matter
what you choose you and your sister will always have a place in our
family."

With that last statement,
Ross left Melina sitting in his office looking thoughtful, and
quiet.

"Are you crazy?" Marietta
cried out, "We have got it made here! Three wonderful home cooked
meals a day, no beatings, I have friends at school, clean clothes,
and Cable TV. Plus, we get anything we want just by doing chores
around the house. Why the hell would we want to leave? Besides Mom
and Dad are..."

"They are not your mom and
dad!" Melina shouted.

"But they are the only ones
who really act like 'em!" Marietta argued. "I wish they were our
parents Linny. They are nice to us! They are kind to us! Do you
remember what the other homes were like? Why would you want to go
through that again?"

Melina paused trying to
figure out a way to convince her sister.

Finally, she sighed and
said, "Marietta, I need to tell you something..."

An hour later, Melina had
told Marietta about going to Roy's house, him turning into a wolf
in front of her, and chasing her through the woods. She also told
Marietta about Aradia and Dax saving her, and then finding out that
Aradia was a witch and Dax was a vampire.

Marietta had listened very
patiently, and quietly. However, the moment Melina had wrapped it
up Marietta had still said nothing. A few tense seconds passed with
Melina staring at her sister and expecting a reaction.

Marietta was silent for a
bit longer until she finally threw her head back, and laughed.
"Werewolves, vampires, witches? Girl, you are seriously tripping!
You really believe that in Salem, there are real monsters living
out there in secret, and Aradia is one of them! You are out of your
damn mind!"